The artist Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar meditating in the Amarta space by James Turrell, during his Patina Maldives residency in January and February 2024
French-Iranian artist Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar is renowned for his abstract works hinting at a paradise with a twist. On the eve of the artist?s residency at an eco-luxury resort in the Maldives, the Italian collector Andrea Morante, former CEO of the Pomellato jewellery brand, which was acquired by Kering in 2013, tells LUX about why Behnam-Bakhtiar?s works have stirred his collection
It all started over a dinner with LUX?s Editor-in-Chief, Darius Sanai. He was standing ? very serious, with a bottle of the Tuscan wine Masseto in hand ? going on about its virtues in absolute terms, as he does? my gaze drifted behind him, to a beautiful painting I hadn?t seen before. I decided right there that I had to know the artist: it turned out to be Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar. There was an immediate connection when I first met the artist, in the south of France where he was then based. A great dialogue soon started, perhaps because of my own childhood spent in Iran, which extended to all facets of life choices, family complexities, Iranian roots and personal sufferance.
Andrea Morante is an art collector and the former chief executive officer of Pomellato (the fifth largest European jewellery company) which was acquired by Kering in 2013
From the very beginning, the pleasure of visiting Sassan?s atelier was shared with my...